JP5640156B2 - Tempered glass plate for touch panel and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a tempered glass plate for a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof, more specifically, after chemically etching the edge region of the tempered glass plate for a touch panel by half etching, a substrate forming step in units of original glass It is related with the tempered glass board for touchscreens which cut | disconnect and use for a cell glass unit, and its manufacturing method.

  Recently, with the advent of a touch screen panel (TSP) in which transparent electrodes are integrated with tempered glass, the competitive composition of the touch screen market has intensified.

  The touch screen panel (TSP) is a flat display device such as an electronic notebook, a liquid crystal display device (LCD), a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), an EL (Electroluminescence), and the like, and has a touch function. A tool used to allow a user to select desired information via a display. Touch screen panels are roughly classified into 1) a resistive film type (Resistive Type), 2) a capacitive type (Capacitive Type), and 3) a resistive film-multi-touch type (Resistive-Multi-Touch Type).

  1) In the Resistive Type, a resistive component material is coated on a glass or plastic plate, and a polyethylene film is placed on top of it. An insulation rod is installed. The principle of operation is that when a constant current is passed from both ends of the resistance film, the resistance film acts like a resistor having a resistance component, and thus a voltage is applied to both ends. When the finger of the hand is applied, the polyester film on the upper surface is bent and both sides are connected. Therefore, due to the resistance components on both sides, it becomes like a parallel connection of resistors, and the resistance value changes. At this time, a voltage change also occurs due to the current flowing at both ends, but it is possible to immediately grasp the degree of such a voltage change and know the position of the touched finger. The resistive film method has a drawback that it can detect only one touch position at the same time and has a high risk of breakage, although it has a high resolution and a high response speed due to operation by surface pressure.

  2) Capacitive type is manufactured by coating a transparent special conductive metal (TAO) on both surfaces of heat-treated glass. When a voltage is applied to the four corners of the screen, a high frequency spreads over the entire surface of the sensor. At this time, when a finger touches the screen, the flow of electrons changes, and such changes are detected to grasp the coordinates. The electrostatic capacity method can be executed by pressing a large number of points at the same time, and has the advantage of high resolution and good durability, but has the disadvantage that the reaction speed is slow and the mounting is difficult.

  3) Resistive Multi-Touch Type (Resistive-Multi-Touch Type) can be implemented in the same way as the capacitance method, complementing and improving the maximum drawback of the resistive membrane method that can only be implemented at one point. As realized.

  Touch screen panels (TSP) not only have signal amplification problems, resolution differences, and difficulty in design and processing technology, but also the characteristic optical characteristics, electrical characteristics, and mechanical characteristics of each touch screen panel. It is selectively used for individual electronic products in consideration of environmental resistance characteristics, input characteristics, durability and economy. In particular, in electronic notebooks, PDAs, portable PCs, mobile phones (cell phones), and the like, a resistive film type (Resistive Type) and a capacitance type (Capacitive Type) are widely used.

  When considering the future trend of touch screen manufacturing technology, it is necessary to manufacture the touch screen panel thinner so that it has sufficient durability even if the conventional complicated processes are reduced to the maximum. The reason is that, even if the light transmittance is increased and the brightness of the display is lowered, by realizing the same performance as existing products, the power consumption can be reduced and the battery usage time can be increased. It is.

  In response to these demands, touch screen panels that use a glass substrate with a thickness of 1.8 mm or less have been presented. The touch screen panel that uses such thin glass can be used by a user in a back bag or the like. When sitting in a state of being put in, breakage occurs, so it is necessary to employ tempered glass.

As a method for strengthening a glass substrate having a thickness of 1.8 mm or less, a chemical strengthening method is used because heat treatment cannot be used. The chemical strengthening method is a method of strengthening the glass by removing Na ⁺ ions contained in the glass and injecting a K ⁺ substance instead.

  First, for convenience of explanation, a glass substrate having a large size is referred to as “original glass”, and glass obtained by cutting the original glass and cutting it into a small panel glass for a touch panel is referred to as “cell glass”.

  The cell glass used for the touch panel which uses the conventional tempered glass substrate of thickness 1.8mm or less was manufactured by the following processes.

  A conventional process for manufacturing a touch panel using a tempered glass substrate having a thickness of 1.8 mm or less will be briefly described with reference to FIG. First, a large-size glass plate containing a large number of cells is cut into cell glass (ST100). The cut cell glass is strengthened by a chemical strengthening method (ST110). A process of performing a touch panel forming process such as formation of a transparent electrode layer on the cut cell glass (ST120) is applied.

  However, the process of manufacturing a conventional panel for a touch panel using a tempered glass substrate having a thickness of 1.8 mm or less cuts the original glass into cell glass, and then forms the substrate on the cell glass (formation of a transparent electrode layer, etc.) Therefore, there is a problem in that the yield of the process is reduced as compared with the process performed in units of original plates.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its purpose is to perform a substrate forming process in units of original glass while using a tempered glass substrate having a thickness of 1.8 mm or less. It is providing the tempered glass board for touch panels, and its manufacturing method.

  Another object of the present invention is for a touch panel capable of tempering the cut surface to some extent even if it is cut into cell glass units of a touch panel size after performing tempered glass processing and substrate processing in an original glass unit. It is providing the manufacturing method of a tempered glass board.

In the method for producing a tempered glass plate for a touch panel formed from tempered glass, the above object is a first step of strengthening an original plate glass including a plurality of touch panel cell glasses, and cell glass size units on the surface of the original plate glass. a fourth step of half-etching an edge region defining, with the original plate glass units, a second step of performing a substrate forming step including a transparent electrode forming step, the original plate glass finished the substrate forming step and the half-etching cut into the cell glass unit, and thereafter, a third step of grinding (grinding) the cutting plane can be achieved by the manufacturing method of the containing Do filter touch panel reinforcing glass plate.

The above other objects are used in the touch panel, a touch panel for tempered glass, which is formed of tempered glass, in the end surface, the thickness of the center line from the upper and lower surfaces of the surface relative to the thickness center line of the reinforcing glass region to region has a concave shape that is recessed outward, the thickness centerline region characterized in that it has a convex shape that bulges are formed continuous to said concave, outwardly It can be achieved by a tempered glass plate for data touch panel.

  When the tempered glass plate for a touch panel of the present invention and the manufacturing method thereof are applied, the substrate forming step can be performed in a large-size original plate glass unit, so that the substrate forming step is facilitated and the production yield can be improved. it can.

  Moreover, the manufacturing method of the tempered glass board for touch panels proposed by this invention cut | disconnects the area | region which is not tempered, after performing a board | substrate formation process in the reinforced original glass state of thickness 1.8mm or less, Since grinding is performed, there is an advantage that generation of chips can be suppressed as compared with the conventional technique.

It is a manufacturing process flowchart of the conventional glass plate for touchscreens which uses a tempered glass substrate.

It is a manufacturing-process flowchart of the glass plate for touchscreens of one Example based on this invention which uses a tempered glass substrate.

It is a perspective view which shows the edge part by which half etching is performed to original plate glass as one Example which concerns on this invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a cross section taken along the line a-a ′ illustrated in FIG. 3.

It is a manufacturing-process flowchart of the glass plate for touchscreens of another Example based on this invention which uses a tempered glass substrate.

It is a perspective view of the original plate glass after performing ST500 and ST510 step of the modification which concerns on this invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line b-b ′ illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line b-b ′ in a state in which a strengthening process of ST520 is performed after the process of FIG. 7.

It is a manufacturing-process flowchart of the glass plate for touchscreens of another Example based on this invention which uses a tempered glass substrate.

It is an enlarged view which shows the cut surface of the cell glass produced by this invention.

It is an enlarged view which shows the cut surface of the cell glass of another Example produced by this invention.

It is an enlarged view which shows the cut surface of the cell glass of another Example produced by this invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments, advantages, and features of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the process of manufacturing the tempered glass board used for the touch panel of thickness 1.8mm or less which concerns on one Example of this invention using FIG. 2 is demonstrated easily. The original glass sheet is tempered (ST200). Since the glass substrate used in the present invention has a thickness of 1.8 mm or less, it is preferable to apply a chemical strengthening method. As described in the background art, the chemical strengthening method is a method in which Na ⁺ ions contained in the glass are removed, and K ⁺ material is alternatively injected to strengthen the glass.

Then, the edge part for forming cell glass is chemically etched as a pre-stage for cut | disconnecting to cell glass size in the thickness direction from the upper surface and lower surface of original glass (ST210). At this time, the chemical etching performed is performed by a method in which the original glass is not completely cut into cell glass units and a part of the center is left with reference to the thickness direction, and this is referred to as “ half etching” in the present invention. . By half- etching, the upper and lower surfaces of the original glass are chemically etched in the center direction based on the thickness, and there is a region that remains in the central part of the original glass without being etched.

FIG. 3 shows an edge where half- etching is performed on the original glass as one embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 shows an enlarged cross section along the line aa ′ shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an example in which one original glass sheet is formed on nine cell glasses, and is a perspective view showing a state where chemical half etching is performed on the edge 20 to be cut into cell glass units. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a half- etched cross section performed between the C1 cell glass and the C2 cell glass. FIG. 3 shows that one cell glass includes nine cell glasses. However, this is merely an example, and more or less cell glasses are actually formed from one glass plate. it can.

As shown in FIG. 4, chemical etching is performed at the edge 20 on the upper and lower surfaces of the original glass. The original glass was tempered in ST200 stage. As a result of such strengthening treatment, the chemically strengthened regions 10 are formed by TD depths from the upper and lower surfaces. Such chemical strengthening depth (DOL, Depth of Layer) is known to be about 50 to 60 μm in the case of gorilla glass used for iPhone currently widely sold. In the present invention, since the subsequent cutting and grinding process must be performed in the region excluding the strengthening region, the depth of the half etching performed in the ST210 stage must at least exceed the strengthening depth (DOL). In general, isotropic chemical etching is employed. For example, assuming that the thickness (T) of the original glass shown in FIG. 4 is 1.8 mm and the strengthening depth (TD) is 60 μm, the half etching depth is larger than the strengthening depth (TD). It is made smaller than 1/2 of the thickness (T) of the original glass. In order to smoothly perform the subsequent cutting process and grinding process, it is necessary to perform half etching so that a region not subjected to the strengthening process is sufficiently exposed. Preferably, the thickness (TR) of the remaining region remaining in the thickness direction after the half etching is set to be larger than at least 5 μm. When the thickness (TR) of the remaining region is 5 μm or less, there is a problem that a half- etched portion is cut in a substrate forming process performed later.

In addition, after half- etching, the horizontal distance (L) that is not tempered between adjacent cell glasses must be set differently depending on the technique of the cutting process performed in the subsequent process and the size of the cell glass. . For example, when the cutting process is performed by a sandblasting method, the horizontal distance (L) must be larger than when the cutting process is performed by a laser beam.

Next, a substrate forming process is performed for each half- etched original glass unit (ST220). The substrate forming process is performed in various ways depending on the substrate structure to be formed. For example, a decoration region forming step of forming a window edge and a manufacturer's logo with black ink for each cell glass, and a transparent electrode forming step of forming a transparent electrode on the overcoating layer or the anchor coating layer are performed.

In the manufacturing process shown in FIG. 2, it is described that the tempered original glass sheet is half- etched in units of cell glass (ST210 stage) and then the substrate forming process is performed (ST220 stage). Since the main gist of the present invention is to perform the substrate forming process in units of original glass, the object of the present invention can be achieved even if the order of ST210 stage and ST220 stage is changed.

Thereafter, the original glass after the substrate forming step is cut in units of cell glass and ground (ST230). At this time, the cutting step and the grinding step are performed in a region (L) where the reinforcing treatment is exposed by half etching. Therefore, if etching is performed on the strengthened portion, a chip is generated due to surface stress, and if it is severe, a crack is generated. However, since the cutting process and the grinding process according to the present invention are performed in a portion not subjected to the strengthening process, that is, performed in an area where stress is not concentrated, there is an advantage that the generation of chips can be reduced.

  Cutting is preferably performed by a physical cutting method such as cutting using laser light, diamond wheel cutting, water jet cutting, sand blasting, etc., but it can also be done by chemical cutting with fluorine. It is.

  At this time, since the cut surface is a region that has not been subjected to the strengthening process, there is a possibility that the surface becomes weak against external impact. In the present invention, after cutting, if a hydrofluoric acid-containing paste is applied to the side surface that has not been reinforced, and then washed, it can be reinforced to some extent.

  [First Modification]

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a manufacturing process of a glass plate for a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention using a tempered glass substrate. Edge regions to be cut in units of cell glass are half- etched on the upper and lower surfaces of the original glass plate including a plurality of cell glasses (ST500). Thereafter, a reinforcing treatment interfering substance for preventing the reinforcing treatment is applied to a part of the half- etched region (ST510). As an example of the reinforcing treatment interfering substance, a compound composed of silica (SiO ₂ ) and aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ) can be given. Thereafter, the original glass is tempered (ST520). Next, a substrate forming process is performed in units of original glass (ST530). When the substrate forming process is completed, the half- etched region to which the reinforcing treatment interfering substance is applied is cut and the cut surface is ground (ST540). Even after completion of the strengthening process in ST520, the reinforcing treatment interfering substance remains in the edge region, but the remaining reinforcing treatment interfering substance is removed by chamfering in the cutting process and the grinding process performed in ST540 stage. Is done. At this time, the chamfered surface is a region that has not been reinforced, and thus may be susceptible to external impact. In the present invention, after cutting, if a hydrofluoric acid-containing paste is applied to a chamfered surface that has not been reinforced, and washed, it can be reinforced to some extent.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the original glass after performing steps ST500 and ST510 of the modified example according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 shows an enlarged cut surface along the line bb ′ shown in FIG. FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, half- etching is performed on the edge region 20 of the original glass plate that has not been tempered, and the state in which the tempering hindering substance 30 is applied to a part of the half- etched region can be confirmed. it can. When the tempering process is completed in the state of FIG. 7, the tempering process is performed to a certain depth from the upper and lower surfaces of the original glass to the region where the tempering process disturbing substance 30 is not applied, as in the cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. 8. Region 10 is formed. 7 and 8, “L” indicates a horizontal distance where no strengthening treatment occurs in the edge region between adjacent cell glasses.

The depth of the half etching performed in ST500 is performed in the same manner as the depth presented in the embodiment of FIG.

  [Second Modification]

  FIG. 9 is a manufacturing process flow chart of a glass substrate for a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention using a tempered glass substrate. The original glass is tempered (ST900), and the substrate forming step is performed in units of the original glass (ST910). The meaning of performing the substrate forming step in the original glass unit was used to explain the process flow compared with the step of performing the substrate forming step in the cut cell glass unit after cutting into the cell glass unit. It is a term, and means that a substrate forming process such as forming a transparent electrode is performed in an original glass unit containing a plurality of cell glasses. Therefore, compared with the case where the substrate forming process is performed in units of cell glass, the same process can be applied to a large number of cell glasses at the same time, so that the production time is shortened and the process is simplified. is there. When the substrate forming step is completed, a mask is applied to cut the cell glass unit, and fluorine etching is performed to cut the original glass into cell glass units (ST920). Thereafter, when the cut surface is ground, the manufacture of the glass plate for a touch panel is completed.

  In the process presented in the second modification, since the chemical etching using fluorine (F) is performed after the transparent electrode forming process and the like are completed, the etching solution is stacked by the already performed substrate forming process. Since there is a drawback that the structure may be contaminated, it is necessary to develop a mask suitable for this.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view showing a cut surface of the cell glass produced by the process of FIG. Cell glass cutting region 20, the region from the surface of the upper and lower surfaces with respect to the center line of the glass thickness to the centerline region formed in a concave shape concaved outwardly by half etching, the centerline region half It turns out that it has a peculiar shape formed in the convex shape which continued to the concave shape generated by the etching and bulged outward by the grinding process.

In FIG. 10, isotropic half etching is used to form a single R concave shape that is recessed outward in the region from the surface of the upper and lower surfaces to the center line region with respect to the center line of the glass thickness. The area | region illustrated the glass cut surface formed in the single r convex shape which bulged outward by the grinding process.

  In other words, the upper plate of the tempered glass for touch panel produced by the present invention has a concave shape in which the cut surface is recessed outward from the upper and lower surface to the center line region on the basis of the center line of the glass thickness. It can be seen that the center line region is formed in a convex shape that continues to the concave shape and bulges outward by the grinding process.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a cut surface showing another cut form of the cell glass produced by the process of FIG. In the example of FIG. 11, the central portion of the cell glass cutting region 20 was chamfered. The cell glass cutting region 20 is formed in a concave shape in the region from the surface of the upper and lower surfaces to the center line region with respect to the center line of the glass thickness by half- etching, and the center line region has a peculiar shape exhibiting a chamfered shape. It can be seen that it has a shape.

  FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of a cut surface showing another cut form of the cell glass produced by the process of FIG. The embodiment of FIG. 12 shows that a 45 ° chamfer can be added between the concave shape and the vertically chamfered portion in FIG.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated with specific terms, such terms are merely for purposes of illustrating the present invention and the embodiments of the present invention have been attached. Obviously, various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims (14)

In the manufacturing method of the tempered glass board for touch panels formed from tempered glass,
A first stage for strengthening an original glass plate including a plurality of touch panel cell glasses;
A fourth step of half-etching an edge region partitioned by a cell glass size unit on the surface of the original glass;
A second stage of performing a substrate forming process including a transparent electrode forming process in units of original glass;
Cutting the original glass after the substrate forming step and the half etching into cell glass units, and then grinding the cut surface ; and
The comprise Do filter touch panel for the production method of the tempered glass sheet. In the manufacturing method of the tempered glass board for touch panels formed from tempered glass,
A first stage for strengthening an original glass plate including a plurality of touch panel cell glasses;
A second stage of performing a substrate forming process including a transparent electrode forming process in units of original glass;
A fourth step of half-etching an edge region partitioned by a cell glass size unit on the surface of the original glass;
Cutting the original glass after the substrate forming step and the half etching into cell glass units, and then grinding the cut surface; and
The manufacturing method of the tempered glass board for touchscreens containing this. The half etching in the fourth stage is deeper than the tempering depth formed by the tempering treatment performed in the first stage from the surfaces of the upper and lower surfaces of the original glass, and is 1 of the total thickness (T) of the original glass. / 2 comprises carrying out shallower than claim 1 or 2 method for producing a tempered glass sheet for a touch panel according to. The half-etching of the fourth step, the manufacturing method of the thickness (TR) is a touch panel for tempered glass according to 請 Motomeko 3 you characterized by being performed so as to leave more than 50μm of the remaining region. The third step cutting and grinding, the out of the half-etched areas, touch panel according to 請 Motomeko 1 or 2 you characterized by being performed in a region which is not reinforced process of the first stage A method for producing a tempered glass sheet. Wherein after the fourth step, the cut surface was coated with a hydrofluoric acid-containing paste solution, touch panel manufacturing method for tempered glass according to 請 Motomeko 3 you comprising further a fifth step of washing. In the manufacturing method of the tempered glass board for touch panels formed from tempered glass,
A first stage of half- etching the edge region in units of cell glass size on the surface of the original glass plate including a plurality of touch panel cell glasses;
A second step of applying a reinforcing treatment interfering substance to prevent a strengthening treatment from being applied to a part of the region that has been half- etched by the first step;
A third step of hardening the coated the original plate glass of the reinforcement treatment interfering substances,
A fourth stage in which a substrate forming process including a transparent electrode forming process is performed in the original glass unit that is half- etched by the first stage and strengthened by the third stage ;
The original plate glass substrate forming step already by the fourth stage and cut into cell glass unit of the touch panel size, and thereafter, the fifth step of grinding the cut surfaces,
Features and to filter touch panel for the production method of the tempered glass sheet to be comprised of. The half etching in the first stage is deeper than the strengthening depth formed by the strengthening process performed in the third stage from the surface of the upper and lower surfaces of the original glass, and is 1 of the total thickness (T) of the original glass. / 2 comprises carrying out shallower than 請 Motomeko 7 touch panel manufacturing method for tempered glass according to. The half-etching of the first step, the touch panel manufacturing method for tempered glass according to 請 Motomeko 8 you wherein the thickness of the remaining region (TR) is performed so as to leave more than 50 [mu] m. The cutting and grinding of the fifth step, the production method of the tempering treatment for a touch panel strengthened glass sheet according to 請 Motomeko 7 or 8 you characterized by being performed in the coated areas of the interfering substances. After the fifth step, the cut surface was coated with a hydrofluoric acid-containing paste solution, the production of tempered glass plate for a touch panel according to 請 Motomeko 7 or 8 that you wherein further comprising a sixth step of washing Method. A tempered glass plate for a touch panel used for a touch panel and formed from tempered glass,
In the end face, the area from the upper and lower surface to the thickness centerline area with respect to the thickness centerline of the tempered glass has a concave shape recessed outward, and the thickness centerline area is the concave surface It is formed continuous with the shape, characteristics and to filter touch panel for tempered glass plate having a bulging convex outwardly. The concave entire area of the partial region and the convex shape, a touch panel for tempered glass according to 請 Motomeko 12 you being a region which is not hardening. The boundary surface of the concave shape of the region and the region of the convex shape, according to 請 Motomeko 12 or 13 you characterized in that deep is formed from reinforced depth formed when strengthening the original plate glass Tempered glass plate for touch panel.

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